Hew Locke RA (b. Edinburgh, UK, 1959) is a Guyanese-British artist. He spent his formative years (1966-80) in Guyana before returning to the UK to complete an MA in sculpture at the Royal College of Art (1994). He was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 2022. Locke lives and works in London, UK.

Locke explores the languages of colonial and post-colonial power, how different cultures fashion their identities through visual symbols of authority, and how these representations are altered by the passage of time. Throughout an extensive and complex practice, Locke remains dedicated to illuminating histories – highlighting the relevance of the past within the context of contemporary culture and politics. Through various motifs, Locke reassesses the figureheads and imagery that represent nationhood.

In Black Queen (2004), Locke uses the iconic shape of Queen Elizabeth II as a basis for a luscious landscape, infested with plastic lizards, plants and insects. Locke’s fascination with images of royalty began at an early age – growing up in Guyana every school textbook had a depiction of the Queen, which he would doodle on as a child. Full of tension, Black Queen entices with layers of beads, toys and plastic – the Queen becomes a ‘jungle deity.’

Locke states:

“I am attracted to this plastic stuff, which is after all designed to be attractive. I like how it looks. It is aspirational. I have tried to take the cheapest thing I can find and work it to make it look precious. The irony here is that the material I am using...are trying to look expensive. I am not making a critique of mass consumerism – I am just acknowledging it as a reality of our life today. I am very conscious of the fact that this work could not have existed…years ago, as these huge amounts of plastic foreign imports were not available in such profusion.”